1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electric locker apparatus including a plurality of locker boxes; more particularly, it pertains to an improvement in a locker box designating device for such locker apparatus, which serves to automatically designate a locker box to be occupied thereby allowing all the locker boxes of a same type to be occupied with a uniform frequency.
2. Description of the Related Art
A locker apparatus with a plurality of locker boxes of various sizes or types is often installed at a public space such as an entrance hall of a condominium, and used typically by registered residents or the like users to receive baggages, etc., delivered during a period when the recipient is out of house, or to transfer various articles rom residents to courier or laundry service agent, etc. This kind of locker apparatus generally includes a console box accommodating an electric control unit for controlling the operations of each locker box, and having a front operation panel equipped with an operation guidance display, ten-keys, etc.
While such a locker apparatus proved to be generally satisfactory in improving users' daily convenience, it has been confirmed that every locker boxes of the apparatus are not actually occupied with a uniform frequency. There are certain locker boxes which are located close to the operation panel and/or at a convenient height, and which are thus more readily accessible and tend to be used with a higher frequency than other locker boxes. This tendency is quite significant in the case of a locker apparatus wherein the size or type of a locker box to be used is selected by user's designation, i.e. input of the locker box number through ten-keys. It is of course that repeated occupation, with a higher frequency, of such particular locker boxes may result in their premature damages, possibly giving rise to undesirable shortening of the serviceable life of the entire apparatus.
There has been a proposal wherein a locker box of a selected type is automatically designated for use in order to avoid the user's free choice. This proposal is that locker boxes of a same size or type are previously assigned with respective serial natural numbers and the designation is made of the box having the youngest number among the boxes of the selected type which are ready to be used or which are not occupied. This proposal proved to be quite effective when all the locker boxes are substantially fully in operation at any time, as every boxes are then used with a substantially uniform frequency. However, when only a limited number of locker boxes are usually put in use due, for example, to a small number of articles or baggages to be transferred through locker boxes to or from the residents, it is still practically impossible to achieve a uniform use of the locker boxes. In such a case, the locker box of the youngest number is always in use while the boxes of elder number are scarcely used.